A Certain Kind of Sickness
by Yollm
Summary: Anna catches a cold, and perhaps something more. Elsanna drabble.


A chill down the spine. Bright, flushed cheeks. A speeding up of the heart's pitter-patter. One could say these were symptoms of a certain kind of _sickness_. Yes, a cold, more specifically. Letting out a pathetic groan, Anna rolled uselessly onto her side, inhaling deeply through her mouth. She couldn't breathe through her nose, after all, which was quickly becoming agitating. Her covers were pulled up to her chin, leaving just the top of her head poking out, like a bunny peeking from a rabbit-hole. Anna had been pretty sure she was dying when she first woke up; light-headed, unable to breathe, hot all over. Those were the signs of dying, right? Probably. She could feel her life slipping away with each wheezing little cough.

The lack of a certain exuberant red-headed presence had not gone unnoticed by the Queen. Usually, she would have come bounding into her room by now, open door policy and all that, to greet her before she began her busy day of meetings and such. She knew her dear sister was a young woman in her own right, but they had fallen into a routine in the months following the coronation debacle. This deviation from it.. made her worry. Placing her brush down, Elsa decided to pause in her morning preparations to check on her. It was not because she didn't trust her sister; she just wished to quell this feeling of uneasiness.

Why was it cold all of the sudden? Was she dreaming? Was she dying again? The young Princess was flat on her back, raspy breaths passing in and out of her open mouth. Her nose wrinkled when she had registered sudden cold on her face, like chilled hands pressed against her forehead and cheeks. Half-asleep, she could have sworn someone had laid snow across her now. How comforting. She stuck her hot tongue out to press against the cold that brushed again her lips, and she felt the snow.. jump back? Wait, snow didn't jump. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Anna slowly cracked open her eyes and found herself staring into those of another. Icy blue, filled with worry and a touch of shock.

".. El-sa?"

Ugh, her voice sounded bad to even her own ears, it was more like a croak. She opened her eyes wider and took in the figure above her. Her sister, her hair down but otherwise fully dressed, perched on the side of her bed with one cool hand pressed against Anna's heated cheek. Taking this all in, Anna could feel herself getting hotter, and not from the fever. Oh, God. She had licked her sister's hand. _Licked her hand. _She could die, she wanted to die. Maybe she really was dying and this was her last request. You'd think she could come up with something better than a hand-lick, though. Like a hug, or a kiss. Or pressing Elsa against a wall and watching her icy visage melt under heated fingertips and-

Woah, slow down there.

"Anna. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I haven't seen you sick in so long.. I suppose it didn't cross my mind," Elsa apologized, lifting her hand from Anna's cheek. Anna felt proud of herself for not whining at the loss. "Here, let me help you sit up. I've had the servants prepare some soup. I believe that's customary fare for someone who is ill, yes?"

Anna gave a small, silent nod. She didn't want to try talking again in that croaky little voice. She didn't want her sister to see her like this, all curled up and pathetic and sick. It was almost embarrassing, though she knew it was foolish to think as much. Her sister wouldn't think less of her for catching a cold or anything like that. Her sister was a wonderful, beautiful person who wouldn't look down on anyone. Unless their name was Hans, then they could go shove their head in a bucket. Anna shifted to sit up against the pillows, with some gentle guiding from Elsa, she turned her head and coughed again. Her normally wild hair was tame for once, though this was due to the fact it was plastered down with sweat. Gross, she was gross. Elsa didn't seem to mind, though, as she tenderly brushed the back of her hand against Anna's forehead. It made her whimper, the cold just felt so nice.

"Thank you, Elsa," she said softly, to try and force her voice not to break. As if suddenly taken by emotion, Elsa reached out and pulled Anna into an embrace. Anna's first thought was to pull away because, as she said earlier, she was gross. But it was just so nice, and so cool. Instead, she felt her forehead drop forehead onto her shoulder, turning her head so her face was pressed against her slender, pale neck. Her lips rested against her pulse-point, unmoving. She could feel her sister give a small shiver in her arms. Wait, why was she shivering? She would have thought on it harder, but her mind was clouded by sleepiness and sickness.

"I love you," Anna breathed out.

Elsa's body jolted in surprise, before she went to answer. "I love you too, Anna. It worries me when you're sick like this-"

"No, I mean, I really, really love you."

_What was she even saying?!_ Nope, she was dying for sure. She was delirious, and these were her last words to Elsa before she passed on. It had just spewed out of her before she could think about it, like a sneeze. At least there was no snot. Emotions that had been smothered under a need for propriety, over an inborn feeling to avoid the wrongness of it, bubbled up within her as she leaned back to look Elsa in the eyes. There, she found confusion that slowly turned into comprehension, the pale queen's cheeks coloring noticeably. There was worry there, but also a sudden look of.. longing? Anna could feel her heart rate pick up again. Was this too much to hope for? She gripped the sleeves of Elsa's dress tightly, as if to prevent her escape. She had to know if what she saw just then was real or not.

Under her sister's intense gaze, Elsa squirmed. This was wrong, she knew it was. And yet, her sister, this young woman, had just let her emotions spill out to her. Part of her wanted to simply brush it off as Anna being delirious from her sickness. Dismiss the feelings as nothing but a mistake of the moment. But she couldn't not with such an honest gaze driving into her. She had always been taught to think carefully over things, only act when you were fully certain of something. In that moment though, Elsa acted on impulse, instinct, moving forward to press cold lips to hot ones, before she was suddenly gone from the bedside. Anna barely had time to react before she was leaving, leaving her blinking in confusion as Elsa left her with tingling lips and whispered words.

"I'll go check on the soup."


End file.
